Today, in Lamentations 5, we have a prayer of the people of Jerusalem reaching out to God for help and hope amidst the dark times they found themselves in. Even though this is an ancient book, it is deeply relevant because nothing transcends time like pain, heartache and disappointment. Today, whether you’re stuck in darkness or trying to help someone through theirs, we get help on how to walk in the dark with hope.

Lamentations chapter 4 continues the accounting of the raw and painful aftermath of the destruction and exile of Jerusalem. The grief expressed in this book speaks to our deepest needs in a powerful way. As we look at common questions raised when humans experience suffering, we can take comfort in who God has declared himself to be. He is holy, and as such has a just and measured wrath against against sin. He is working all things, even suffering, together for our good, will walk through our suffering with us, and will do what he must to root out our destructive self-dependence. God's wrath helps us forgive, knowing that He will execute perfect justice. And, God's wrath helps us grasp how much Christ loved us through His costly, wrath bearing sacrifice.

Today we will move into Lamentations 3, the third poem of Lamentations. This chapter is utterly unique among the rest of the book. Why? There’s actually a glimmer of hope amidst the carnage of a destroyed city. This section offers us some serious help in how to face suffering, difficulty, disappointment and heartache – with hope.

Today we are beginning a new study through Lamentations that will take us through the next five weeks leading up to Good Friday. In this sermon we will cover Lamentations 1:1-22. Lamentations chronicles the painful aftermath of the destruction and exile of Jerusalem in 587 BC by the Babylonians. As we will see over the course of the next month, this book is still very relevant today. It is raw and real – a bit unnerving – which is why we need it. We need it to wake us up from our 21st century American spiritual slumber and help us get real with God and for God to get real with us.